Lion's Solana Den

[buddythelion]

Hey guys,

For those of you who followed my previous nano-cube set up you all know that the cube was getting extremely crowded and that an upgrade was on its way. At first it was the NC28, but I finally found a Solana when a member on this forum tipped me on one local to me.

So now it's time to say goodbye to the NC12, it's been a good 7 years.

Hello Solana 25, Den 2.0.

Current setup December 5th, 2012 -

Aquarium Purchase Date: August 26, 2012

Equipment:

• Solana 25
• Kessil 350 Narrow w/ Gooseneck
• AquaMaxx HOB-1 Protein Skimmer
• Tunze Osmolator Nano
• MP10
• Eheim Jager 125w Heater
• Purigen + w/ Blue Life Clear Fx Pro
• FHI Premium Rock

Livestock:

 

• Picasso Clownfish Pair
• Naoko Fairy Wrasse
• Blue Spot Jawfish

Pictures:

 

 

 

August, 2012:


September, 2012:


December, 2012:

 

February, 2013:

[buddythelion]

August, 2012

Here she is with the scape (I was too anxious to move the sand and rocks from the NC28 over)

 

 

 

Here she is wet:

 

 

 

 

I wanted to go with a two island approach like my last tank, but the live rock I chose wouldn't allow for that scape to work. I put two pieces together out of frustration and suddenly had an idea/inspiration. After a bit I ended up with this scape, which I like a lot!

[buddythelion]

Thread is a bit boring without livestock pics...

 

So here's pics from the NC12 I took today that will eventually be all moved to this tank.

 

Blue-Rim Blasto:

 

Indo-Gold Torch:

[1.0reef]

::

[Nano sapiens]

This'll be mighty fine when it's full or Zoas (and other corals). Are you going to go with a mostly Zoas/Palys theme or more of a true mixed reef?

 

Either way, I'm sure this'll be nice.

[buddythelion]

::

 

This'll be mighty fine when it's full or Zoas (and other corals). Are you going to go with a mostly Zoas/Palys theme or more of a true mixed reef?

 

Either way, I'm sure this'll be nice.

Going for the mixed reef look hopefully. No frag plugs. But my favorite palys and zoos will be in the tank let to grow and not fragged. Would be stunning to see some high end colonies!

[Deleted User 4]

Nice blasto!, When did you get those?? And did you get a new camera?? I don't recall you going so macro on your shots before haha.

[jball1125]

This should turn out nice, the scape is awesome!

[buddythelion]

Nice blasto!, When did you get those?? And did you get a new camera?? I don't recall you going so macro on your shots before haha.

Yeah, new toy! Got the blasto off 'bay a few months ago.

 

This should turn out nice, the scape is awesome!

Thanks jball1125, I like the scape as well. I was a bit discouraged when I saw Rehype's recent FTS shots though. But then I told myself that my dims are different and that this was the best I could do with the rocks I had, so I was happy again, haha!

 

Anyways, the new toy is keeping the sexy tank theme sexy:

 

New toy:

 

 

MP10:

 

 

[gottaGOpoop]

is that rock you have the "dyed" kind or just regular live rock covered w/coralline?

[buddythelion]

is that rock you have the "dyed" kind or just regular live rock covered w/coralline?

It's the man made kind, so it's dyed. But it's really cool because I like the structures they made them look as and there's even barnacles and sometimes I find dead coral that encrusted over it. There's also some dead macro algae when I first got it, so I'm assuming that it was cycled somewhere for some time after being made pretty cool!

[buddythelion]

And so the sexiness continues:

 

New toy. Finally. I've been eagerly waiting to get my 350 for a few months now.

 

Kessil 350 Narrow, it's perfect. Hand delivered to Neptunes by the awesome representative from Kessil themselves.

 

 

 

Banded Trochus having some trouble flipping over:

 

September FTS:

[Spirofucci]

Love the new tank and scape! We have very high expectations for you on this one!

[buddythelion]

Love the new tank and scape! We have very high expectations for you on this one!

Thanks Spirofucci, really appreciate the comment!

 

I'm thinking of doing only a zoa garden with this tank with

 

These morphs:

 

They're taking off already.

[Deleted User 4]

lol, those look like cheap, brown basic palys...Nothing like your collection..

[gabe3eb]

Ahhhh!! Dunno how I missed this so far. How are you liking the kessil??

[Spirofucci]

Thanks Spirofucci, really appreciate the comment!

 

I'm thinking of doing only a zoa garden with this tank with

 

These morphs:

 

They're taking off already.

I have a bunch of sps which I really like, but I must say that a good grouping of colorful zoas and palys is tough to beat! Actually, my sps grow better than my polyps! I wish I could find the secret to great growth for them. I think your tank will be stunning based on what you've had so far.

[buddythelion]

lol, those look like cheap, brown basic palys...Nothing like your collection..

 

Ahhhh!! Dunno how I missed this so far. How are you liking the kessil??

Hey Gabe, I'm loving it! It's the narrow and works perfectly. I was originally going to go with the wide but I saw Aaron's tank lit up with the narrow and went for it too.

 

I have a bunch of sps which I really like, but I must say that a good grouping of colorful zoas and palys is tough to beat! Actually, my sps grow better than my polyps! I wish I could find the secret to great growth for them. I think your tank will be stunning based on what you've had so far.

Haha, the zoa only was a joke, thus the brown palys. I'm going for a mixed reef, I'm fairly new to SPS so it will be a good way to gain experience.

[buddythelion]

So here's how I plan on gluing the frags down.

 

Emptying out the water:

 

Some BSI gel and the frag to be glued (In this picture, an Utter Chaos paly):

 

Utter Chaos glued and curing:

 

Afterwards, along with a Rasta:

 

Blue Agaves glued too:

 

Sunny D's on its own island:

[1.0reef]

[buddythelion]

[buddythelion]

Poseidon and Captain Jack Sparrow (aka Peanut) have officially been relocated to the new Solana along with the GBTA. I'm thinking the GBTA is only temporary as a home while they settle in their new home until I find a Sunburst Anemone.

 

 

On a side note, I don't know what happened to Tigger, my Tiger Blenny. He just disappeared in the NC12 along with my yasha gobies. I'm beginning to suspect that Saphira, the Golden Dwarf Moray Eel, is growing and had some very expensive dinners. I'm hesitant to add her into this tank now.

[Nano sapiens]

Sounds like you may have a very hungry Moray Eel. Should be okay with Clowns and other fish of that size, but anything smaller might not be so wise...

 

Looks like you have the 'Big-boy' Kessil now I have heard that they throw out quite a bit of light.

 

Following along...

[aaron1987]

Needs more GDM and BSJ goodness. Also - send me some of those sexy coral you're moving over. Oh, and dibs on the first frag of your eventual sunburst 'nem

 

Glad you're liking the Kessil! A350's really are perfect for 18". What % are you running each channel on? I'm playing with mine and not sure at what point I run the risk of nuking my lone goni with the power of a thousand suns (or so everyone running LED's at partial output would lead me to believe).

[buddythelion]

Needs more GDM and BSJ goodness. Also - send me some of those sexy coral you're moving over. Oh, and dibs on the first frag of your eventual sunburst 'nem

 

Glad you're liking the Kessil! A350's really are perfect for 18". What % are you running each channel on? I'm playing with mine and not sure at what point I run the risk of nuking my lone goni with the power of a thousand suns (or so everyone running LED's at partial output would lead me to believe).

 

I'm afraid Saphira might have to stay in the NC12. I think she may eat my next Tiger Blenny. And haha, will do on those corals and nem! I was going to go with the wide until I saw your tank with the narrow. Looked perfect with yours and is definitely perfect with mine! It's pretty cool how we both have 25 cubes. I'm running my Kessil... At the intensity of a thousand suns. Aka 100%. LOL.